The Veterans Day will march up Fifth Ave. on November 11 (photo courtesy United War Veterans Council)
Fifth Ave. from 26th to 52nd Sts.
Monday, November 11, free, 11:15 am – 3:30 pm
www.americasparade.org
“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.” So declared President Woodrow Wilson in making Armistice Day a federal holiday to be held annually on November 11. On June 4, 1926, Congress followed suit with a resolution that said, in part: “Whereas the 11th of November, 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations. . . .” It is anticipated that the 2013 America’s Parade, also known as the Veterans Day Parade, will attract more than six hundred thousand spectators lining Fifth Ave. as thousands of men and women in uniform march, led by Grand Marshals General Raymond Odierno, Anthony Principi, and Ann E. Dunwoody, along with Medal of Honor recipients Woody Williams, Roger Donlon, Thomas Kelly, and Leroy Petry. For a full list of Veterans Week events, go here.
In 1976 France, it’s love at first sight when eight-year-old Boule (Charles Crombez) sets his eyes on cocker spaniel Bill (voiced by Manu Payet) in Alexandre Charlot and Franck Magnier’s utterly delightful Boule & Bill, based on Jean Roba and Maurice Rosy’s popular comic strip. While Boule’s mother (Marina Foïs), a piano teacher, wants to adopt the dog for her son, his father (Franck Dubosc) is firmly against it. He’s not exactly in favor of adding a lost tortoise, Caroline (voiced by Sara Giraudeau), to the family either. Soon Bill and Caroline are on their way home with the clan, but Boule’s father, a stick-in-the-mud appliance designer, immediately begins planning how to get rid of the dog, even moving the family to an oddball apartment complex in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bill continues wreaking havoc, including perpetually annoying the depressive neighbor (Nicolas Vaude) one floor below. Meanwhile, Caroline falls madly in love with Bill. But when Boule and Bill go too far, his parents begin considering whether they have to give the dog away. From the opening scene, it’s apparent that Boule & Bill is no mere silly kiddie movie, as Mother, Father, and Son are in their little red car, singing a song about male genitalia. Charlot and Franck, who previously collaborated on Imogène McCarthery, load the charming tale with laugh-out-loud flourishes, from the mother’s encounters with the downstairs depressive to Bill’s turning himself into a stuffed animal in an emergency. A series of brief dream sequences, along with several plot twists, feel forced and unnecessary, but Charlot and Franck always manage to turn things around and get back on track. And they really have a ball with Bill’s deepest dog thoughts, reminiscent of Jean Shepherd’s narration in A Christmas Story. Running at the Quad November 8-14, Boule & Bill is a colorful, fun adventure that is more than just your average boy meets dog movie. 
“There are some stories which we are not only an audience to, but may become their participants,” Canadian journalist Joe Schlesinger says at the beginning of Matej Mináč and Patrik Pašš’s poignant, powerful documentary Nicky’s Family. Schlesinger is one of hundreds of Czech and Slovak men and women who, as children, were saved from the Nazis by unassuming Englishman Nicholas Winton on the eve of World War II. Winton’s story remained virtually unknown for sixty years, until his wife found a suitcase in the attic filled with documentation detailing her husband’s quiet heroism. Over the last fifteen years, the “British Schindler” has been celebrated around the world, being knighted by the queen, meeting many of the people he helped save, and inspiring children who are not directly part of “Nicky’s Family” to help others in what is called the “Winton virus of good.” It’s an unforgettable story centered around a man who didn’t set out to be a hero and still appears to be somewhat uncomfortable with all the accolades, which include being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The film interviews such members of Nicky’s Family as Alice Masters, Ben Abeles, Liesl Silverstone, Dr. Lenata Laxova, Tom Berman, and Tom Schrecker, who have made significant contributions to society that might have never happened had they not been rescued as children by Winton. Director-producer-cowriter Mináč and producer-cowriter-editor Pašš include unnecessary staged re-creations of some of the events of 1938 that actually detract from the central narrative, and the documentary overplays the emotional card in its final scenes, but it tells a story that needs to be told, of a remarkable man who, even at age 104, continues to be an inspiration and proves that one person can indeed make a difference. Nicky’s Family is screening on three successive Sundays, November 10, 17, and 24, at Symphony Space as part of the Thalia Docs series.
